To Paint or Stain a Kitchen Resurfacing Project
TO PAINT OR TO STAIN
Painting can be a tricky area. No one homeowner has the same taste in color and there are thousands of possible combinations to choose from. Stains are another good way to change the color of your cabinets, but it depends on the type of material your cabinets are made of. If you have fine wood with little knots, consider staining it. You can give your cabinets great character by letting the stain show off your wood’s grain. If you have a lot of knots, consider sticking with paint. A thick paint can make even the worst of wood look great.
PROPERLY PREP THE AREA
Clear the area of any items. Paint splatters, spills and drip, so you should definitely move your stuff to a safe distance or to an entirely different room altogether. Always use drop cloths wherever your cabinets are, otherwise you run the risk of having the paint permanently stain your carpet, tiles or whatever surface you have. You can mitigate a potential disaster by having a damp rag nearby. If you’re working near glass and the paint dries up before you could get to it, don’t panic. Make sure you have a scraper handy and just lightly get the paint off. Don’t use too much force, otherwise, you run the risk of scratching the glass.
PREP THE CABINETS
Always remove whatever doors, handles, hinges, or drawers that come with the cabinet to ensure a more even paint job. Then, you sand or scrape the cabinets down. If you decide to scrape the cabinets, use a good carbide scraper when removing paint or a stain. If you want to sand it down, use sandpaper anywhere from 80 to 150 grit, it depends on how many Orbits your sander makes per minute (typical ranges are from 11000 – 15000). If you must use a power sander, have a shop vac running in one hand and the sander in another. Some sanders have a bag attachment which collects dust. This can be removed and have an shop vac attachment instead, you can even get an adaptor if the shop vac and sander don’t match size. When cleaning the dust off the cabinets, use tack cloth. Then it’s time to change its color!
This type of project is not for the faint of heart, for most it is advisable to hire a professional to do it. If you have any questions, please give us a call